At the head of the lake a cold breeze made us put coats on, then we entered a soggy track to bypass a gorge. Back to the stream, no track revealed itself so we had to paddle along the edge in places to progress. We were happy to reach the biv at 3:30. Dan and John chose to stay in the biv so we pitched two tents in a cold southerly wind as the occasional flurry of sleet settled. The forecast had predicted this but it was all gone by morning and the tall tussock around the biv stayed dry. Kerry tried hard not to impress by cooking a lazy-man’s macaroni with de- hy peas and cheese. Kiwi calls overnight were a bonus in this remote spot.
Dan was first up in the morning and managed to light the MSR stove and not the biv. Peter’s boots froze under the tent fly. Kerry managed to finish drying a shirt that got wet on day one by wearing it inside the sleeping bag. It got wet when he jumped in a deepish part of the Casey and capsized. Away at 8, it took us less than an hour to reach 1082m Minchin Pass, amid small snow patches. The track descending through scrub into Townsend Stream is well marked with white plastic standards. Soon we were boulder-hopping while looking for the occasional short, scrubby diversion. A route-guide spoke of a 300m track avoiding a gorgy bit one hour down from Minchin Pass. We began to think we’d missed it but after three hours, there it was, thank heavens. We must have been a slow party. We took nine, from the biv to the Taramakau. To get past the cascades we had to make lots of crossings of this fairly brisk stream. Walking-poles were very helpful. Peter was carrying a saw so was able to make his own stick.
